Ballad Of Birmingham

Ballad of Birmingham
Dudley Randall

The “Ballad of Birmingham” shows a contrast between something that seems innocent and peaceful being turned into something violent and built from hate. In the poem the young girl wants to go and fight for her peace, her mother sees this as dangerous so instead tells her to go to church in fear of her daughter being in danger, the church being somewhere safe and protected. The poem concludes with the church exploding killing the young girl, this is devastating but also ironic as the church was meant to be a safe haven for the young children of colour.

I think that Dudley Randall wrote the poem Ballad of Birmingham because he wanted to expose the harsh reality of oppression in America. He wanted his poem to be seen, he wanted people to realise how something so innocent and sweet can be turned into something violent because of people full of hate.

“And drawn white gloves on her small brown hands”. This quote shows that the girl in the poem is young and innocent. ‘White’ is a symbol of peace, surrender, purity and innocence. ‘Small brown hands’ is showing that she is young and of a black race.

“But that smile was the last smile to come upon her face”. This quote is about the mother. The mother smiles because her daughter is going to church, a sacred and safe place. It was her ‘last’ smile because at the church there was a devastating explosion that killed her young daughter. I think that this would also make the mother feel guilty as it was her idea to send her child to church instead of letting her march for her freedom.

There were many different writing techniques used in the poem ‘Ballad of Birmingham’. One of the techniques used by Dudley Randal was that he switched between dialogue and narration. This creates more of a story and draws more attention to the grief of the mother. He also used metaphors such as “for the dogs are fierce and wild”. The ‘dogs’ are white suppremicist groups. Assonance was also used such as in the phrase “No baby no, you may not go” this makes it sound more urgent and forced. The last line of the poem is a question “but baby, where are you?”. This makes the readers feel like they should help the grieving mother.